Revolving door in Sabres' front office continues

[Stoner]

LaFontaine. Patrick. Battista. Black. Finlay. As in Oliver Finlay, the director of player performance who has been fired before the first year of his four-million-dollar contract could end.

 

http://sabres.buffalonews.com/2016/03/20/sabres-notebook-director-of-player-performance-loses-his-job/

 

To channel the late, great Ghost of Dwight Drane, for someone who bragged about never firing anyone over the course of several decades at East Resources, Terry Pegula sure got the hang of it in a hurry in the hockey business.

 

Some interesting tidbits from the News piece by Vogl:

 

The nutrition plan put in place by Finlay’s performance department hit a snag with players early in the season. While the smell of pizza and wings often wafts near the visitors’ room after games, Buffalo’s players were discouraged from indulging in savory snacks. The policy was later eased.

Lehner angry when sniff Buffalo treatsies and can no have. He turn green, then Frank's Redhot, then lasers, and finally people hurt bad.

 

Personality differences with longtime Sabres employees helped push Oliver out.

Shades of LaLa? This front office sounds very dysfunctional. What does it say about the culture of the organ-eye-zation that longtime employees who have won jack squat have the power to push a newbie out?

 

“Starting at the beginning of this year, sports performance has been a big focus for the Pegulas,” coach Dan Bylsma said Saturday.

I think we'd all agree that hiring a sports performance head, or making sports performance a "focus," should filter down from GMTM and not ownership. I don't know who made the hire. Finlay's a Brit with little experience in hockey, but some in tennis, so it certainly could be seen as more of a Pegula hire than a marker of Canadian hockey-head Murray.

 

Full disclosure: I am a troll, I'm looking for an angry reaction to criticism of Pegula, I hate the Sabres and am working to destroy them, I am paranoid, I have tin foil on my junk and my head right now, people have to leave their key fobs and cell phones in my mailbox before entering my lair, which is illuminated by a bare light bulb that swings overhead when the wind pours through the tattered plastic sheets that cover the broken windows, and I have a vendetta against Terry because he fracked my mother and never paid child support.

 

So can we talk about the issues at hand? Also, let us not bother Gibby with this. He has a Sunday date with his wife to binge-watch Downton Abbey.

Edited March 20, 2016 by PASabreFan

[Eleven]

Meh. If he wasn't working out, the logical decision is to fire him.

[tom webster]

You are talking about a $10 million investment into something no other franchise has done. Sounds like something is expect would come from the top and I'm sure GMTM was part of the discussion from the start.

Comings and goings, hiring and firings are part and parcel with an organization trying everything to get an edge. The alternative is stagnation snd contentment and a "country club atmosphere" were no one fears for their job.

[dudacek]

Read that. Thought it was interesting.

I read it more as a bad hire, than a bad fire, but one could perceive a trend fermenting with the Pegulas that they can be charmed into personnel mistakes (Darcy brownnose, Anger management Pat, blowhard Rex)

[inkman]

I'd like to key in on the phrase "differences with long time Sabres employees". That can't be Murray right? I'm thinking Tim Macre, the trainer but I'm not sure of his cache within the org.

Edited March 20, 2016 by inkman

[Weave]

for someone who bragged about never firing anyone over the course of several decades at East Resources, Terry Pegula sure got the hang of it in a hurry in the hockey business.

 

Picking a nit here, the context I understood the comment referenced here was, he'd never had an employee leave, ie: quit or resign.  I seriously doubt he's never had someone fired or let go in his business life.  That would be highly unusual, and probably a sign of a fault.

 

Other than that.....

 

[K-9]

The important takeaway is that the rest of the Player Performance department was retained. 

 

In looking at the description of Finlay's career in that article, he strikes me as a job-hopper. And that eclectic resume suggests he has no clue about a hockey culture. 

 

GO SABRES!!!

[Stoner]

Meh. If he wasn't working out, the logical decision is to fire him.

In most business settings, including yours I'm sure, when a hire on a $4 million contract lasts six months, there would be repercussions, no?

You are talking about a $10 million investment into something no other franchise has done.

Can you flesh this out a little?

[sodbuster]

I'd like to key in on the phrase "differences with long time Sabres employees". That can't be Murray right? I'm thinking Tim Macre, the trainer but I'm not sure of his cache within the org.

How many of the key players and higher ups in the organization can be considered " long time" employees? My guess is the guy was a square peg, and this was a total mis-hire.

 

I mean, what kinda dick doesn't let kids have pizza?

[TheAud]

It was $4M over "multi-years" and not clear to me whether it was a guaranteed deal or not as he's not a coach per se. 

Anyway, not good when you take the trouble to hire someone and less than a year later it doesn't work out. I like to think I am good at hiring people but it's happened to me. Sometimes you just can't tell from the interviews that it's going to go south. 

Not sure if it speaks to larger trends in the Sabres organization. 

[inkman]

How many of the key players and higher ups in the organization can be considered " long time" employees? My guess is the guy was a square peg, and this was a total mis-hire.

 

I mean, what kinda dick doesn't let kids have pizza?

One trying to implement dietary standards for a professional hockey team? Don't get me wrong, I think most of the team could stand to gain 10-20 lbs as they are all bean poles. That doesn't mean they were wrong for firing this wanker.

[Stoner]

This dude is fired and then Eichel goes down with food poisoning? Coincidence?

[apuszczalowski]

Wow, this guy must be massively incompetent at his job or he must have hit on Terry's daughter (Or son), even the disaster named Rex Ryan was given a second season after the embarrassment of the last season......

[LGR4GM]

Not really a front office guy.

[Stoner]

Not really a front office guy.

How do you figure?

[LGR4GM]

He was director of player performance, front office impo is the gm coaches and scouting staff.

He's like back of store more than anything.

[That Aud Smell]

I googled it without success. Wasn't there something about how Terry and Kim were all keen on some cutting edge sports nutrition stuff?

 

This guy mos def struck me as a Pegula hire.

 

This dude is fired and then Eichel goes down with food poisoning? Coincidence?

Oh, SNAP.

Pegula meddled in Rochester players' diet!!!!!!

 

(1:01)

 

[Lanny]

P Ham talked at length about this last Tuesday on wgr, one item he mentioned that really rubbed players wrong regarding Finley was the teams travel schedules. Keeping players overnight on the road for rest and costing them time with their families.

 

He also noted setbacks in multiple players return from injury as well as the diet plan not being practical.

[BetterDays06]

If the boys want some wings after a game let em

[spndnchz]

This dude is fired and then Eichel goes down with food poisoning? Coincidence?

Food poisoning? Though it was flu.

[bcsaberks]

Eichel chugging Red Bull pre-game factors in here somewhere.

[Eleven]

In most business settings, including yours I'm sure, when a hire on a $4 million contract lasts six months, there would be repercussions, no?

 

 

In most business settings with a sole owner making the hire, as you postulate?  Of course not.  There are never repercussions for the sole owner.  What's he going to do, fire himself?

 

If Murray hired the guy, it probably counts as a strike against Murray though.

[That Aud Smell]

In most business settings with a sole owner making the hire, as you postulate?  Of course not.  There are never repercussions for the sole owner.  What's he going to do, fire himself?

 

If Murray hired the guy, it probably counts as a strike against Murray though.

 

In light of my re-post of PA's content from 2014 (upthread), I'd say this was absolutely a Pegula-hire.

[Eleven]

In light of my re-post of PA's content from 2014 (upthread), I'd say this was absolutely a Pegula-hire.

 

Well, then we know there aren't going to be "repercussions," then, don't we?  Best we can do is appreciate the fact that he moved on quickly.

[That Aud Smell]

This dude is fired and then Eichel goes down with food poisoning? Coincidence?

Food poisoning? Though it was flu.

 

I think it was discussed in the GDT - pretty widely reported that he ate something bad (or, as I speculated, maybe celebrated a little too hard after he and Reinhart hit the 20-goal mark).

 

 

Well, then we know there aren't going to be "repercussions," then, don't we?  Best we can do is appreciate the fact that he moved on quickly.

 

What? Oh, I see now. Yeah.